Kentucky Wildcats Crash the Latest ESPN Mock Draft

It’s here. The college basketball regular season is over and March Madness is upon us all. It’s a great time to be a college basketball fan, but even a greater time to be a Kentucky Wildcats fan. Being undefeated at 31-0, and only nine games away from immortality, this version of the Kentucky Wildcats are riding high and carrying a whole lot of pressure into every game. However, it has not fazed them one bit, which is why this next statement might not seem too crazy. There will be some players on this team that leave for the 2015 NBA Draft as early entries.

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While this has become expected at Kentucky, this season is something different. No player has the pure stats to warrant going to the NBA early. No one is playing more than 28 minutes a game and no one is averaging more than 12 points a game. The reason? They’re all team players. You know, the type of player that you’d want on your team. Especially in the NBA, where money trumps all and loyalty is simply not there. So, thanks to this key attribute, along with some excellent stats when pared out to 40 minute averages, there are five Kentucky Wildcats projected to go in the first round of the 2015 NBA Draft. This is according to ESPN, whose entire mock draft can be found here.

1. Karl-Anthony Towns, New York Knicks
Analysis: Jahlil Okafor has been the odds-on favorite all season long, but Towns has come on strong lately, and this will be a difficult decision for Phil Jackson and the Knicks, or whoever gets the top selection. Okafor is a true low-post center while Towns is long, skilled, versatile and has a higher upside.
8. Willie Cauley-Stein, Detroit Pistons
12. Devin Booker, Philadelphia 76ers
16. Trey Lyles, Indiana Pacers
30. Dakari Johnson, Golden State Warriors

Now, before everyone freaks out at the though of losing five players to the NBA draft after this season, remember who we’d have back for next year based on these projections.

Guards: Isaiah Briscoe, EJ Floreal, Aaron Harrison, Andrew Harrison, Dominique Hawkins, Charles Matthews, Tyler Ulis

Forwards: Skal Labissiere, Marcus Lee, Alex Poythress, Derek Willis

Maybe it’s just me, but if that’s our team heading into the 2015-2016 college basketball season, then I’m not too worried. John Calipari and the Kentucky Wildcats are the perfect match. And regardless of how many players we lose after this season, we’ll be just fine. Especially if the lineup above does indeed become a reality. For now though, let’s enjoy the team playing right now. You know, the one that’s 31-0 and only has nine games to immortality? Yeah. They deserve our attention. And our attention they will get.

Next: Kentucky Wildcats Go Wire-to-Wire in the Top Spot of AP Poll

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